HÀ NỘI — A new 20-minute animation on a popular historic legend has gone viral among Vietnamese internet users in the past few days.

The cartoon features the legend of Lạc Long Quân (a holy dragon) and Âu Cơ (a fairy bird) and their children (50 boys and 50 girls), who hatched from 100 eggs. The couple together fought various evils to gain peace for the country. Their children then settled down throughout the regions to build and protect the country.

Uploaded to YouTube on November 4, Con Rồng Cháu Tiên (Offspring of Dragon and Fairy), produced by Biti’s footwear company, has been viewed more than 5,250,000 times.

The cartoon was produced by 100 artists under the guidance of director Leo Dinh (Đinh Kiều Anh Tuấn) and took 10,000 working hours over 180 days to make.

The team spent two months brainstorming and searching for historical documents with consultancy from historian Dương Trung Quốc.

Then, the team spent four months to animate the cartoon, with the combination of 2D and 3D techniques to create a cartoon of 20 minutes.

Mystical: Lạc Long Quân (Dragon) and Âu Cơ (Fairy) in the cartoon.

The theme song for the animation is Cùng Nhau Ta Thắp Sáng (Together We Shine) composed by Thanh Bùi and performed by Bích Ngọc.

“In legends, Dragon and Fairy is the start of Vietnamese people with their core values,” commented historian Quốc, “All peoples want to understand their origins.”

“Con Rồng Cháu Tiên is a folk legend, which has been scored in official historical documents to explain the origin of Vietnamese people and why we formed a nation,” he said.

However, Quốc said that the legend has not been placed in its deserving position in Vietnamese literature and in the heart of Vietnamese people.

He worries that in the next 10 to 20 years there may not be any young people interested in folk legends, which inspired the team to make a cartoon that appeals to the young.

“We have done serious research on the appearance of characters, their costumes and landscapes in the cartoon so that audiences can see vivid moving images,” said director Leo Dinh, “I’m proud to say that this is a cartoon was made totally in Việt Nam with Vietnamese identities.”

“Beside interesting content, the soul of the cartoon lies in images and visual effect,” he said, “Thus, dozens thousands of scenes have been drawn by leading cartoon makers of RedCat Motion.”

“The cartoon is a very special project,” Leo Dinh said, “It challenged us not only technically but also pushed us overcome limits in telling stories with images and techniques we have never used.”

“For simply the image of the pile of 100 eggs, we thought over and over on how to create the eggs, which looks like sparkling light,” said creative director of the cartoon Kiều Thiên Vân.

Team effort: The cartoon was made by 100 artists under the guidance of director Leo Dinh.

Vân also said the team encountered some obstacles, including limited historical data and technology when combining 2D and 3D images.

“I think this is the first short cartoon by Vietnamese artists with proper investment and sophisticated implementation, which meets international standards of cartoons in terms of images and moving effects,” noted artist Linh Nguyễn.

“I strongly believe not only children but also adults like us want to see such cartoons,” commented Hoàng Thu Hương under the cartoon on YouTube.

According to Hùng Võ, an official from Biti’s company, who is in charge ofthe project, the cartoon is the second of its kind in a 20-year-long series of projects makings cartoon from folk literature run by Biti’s company between 2017 and 2037.

He said next year, the company will invest in a bigger project.

“We will co-ordinate with schools and parents to transmit the love for folk culture among children,” he said, “We will bring cultural tales to our footwear products to make children proud of their shoes and Vietnamese tales, so they can step forwards as offspring of dragons and fairies.”